Mama Ida Odinga/SCREENGRABMama Ida Odinga has recounted her final conversation with her late husband, former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, saying he appeared well and gave her no indication that anything was wrong the evening before his death.
Speaking during a media interview, Ida recalled that they had discussed ordinary matters, with nothing to suggest that he was unwell.
“The evening before he passed on, we talked a lot, and we were talking about ordinary things; there was no alarm, and there was nothing that could suggest he was unwell,” she said.
Ida said Raila had assured her that he was feeling fine, leaving her with no reason to suspect that his condition would deteriorate the following morning.
“He assured me he was very fine; there was nothing wrong,” she recalled.
The following morning, Ida said she received a call from Raila’s sister, Dr Akinyi, who asked her to contact her other sister, Ruth Odinga, who was with him in India.
Ida said Akinyi informed her that something appeared to be wrong and asked her to establish what was happening.
She tried reaching Ruth but was unable to get through, prompting her to call her daughter, Winnie Odinga, who was also in India at the time.
Winnie informed her that Raila had been taking a walk when he collapsed and that those around him were attempting to resuscitate him.
Ida said Winnie told her that Raila was being taken to the intensive care unit (ICU) as efforts to revive him continued.
“She said he was taking a walk and he collapsed, but they are trying to resuscitate him. She said they were taking him to ICU, and they were trying to resuscitate him, but I’ll keep you informed,” Ida recounted.
Minutes later, Winnie called again with news that the family had lost Raila.
Ida became tearful as she recalled the moment she learnt that her husband had died.
“Ten minutes later, Winnie calls me and tells me, ‘We’ve lost the battle.’ She said Dad is gone, and that is how I received the news,” Ida said.
She described the moment as difficult, recalling that the news came barely hours after she had spoken to her husband and heard him assure her that he was well.
“It was not easy,” she said.
Raila died in India on October 15, 2025, where he had travelled for medical treatment.
His death marked the end of a decades-long political career during which he served as Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013 and remained a prominent figure in Kenya’s political landscape.
A year after his death, Ida’s account offers a personal recollection of the events surrounding his death, from their ordinary conversation the previous evening to the phone calls that brought news of his collapse and death the following morning.
